the Last Day we accept in both its entirety and its particulars—from the moment of death until the people of Paradise settle permanently in Paradise and the people of Hell settle permanently in Hell. Everything in this regard that has been authentically reported we affirm without the slightest doubt; whoever harbors any doubt about it is a disbeliever, an apostate from Islam. All of this is subsumed under the term “the Last Day” and all that it involves.

The sixth pillar is belief in the Divine Decree, both its good and its evil. You must believe that whatever occurs in this universe—be it good or evil, disbelief or faith, blessing or punishment, ease or hardship, sickness or health, life or death—is foreordained; none of it happens by chance or arises anew without prior decree. You believe that it is all by Allah’s decision and predestination, and that what has befallen you could never have missed you, and what has missed you could never have befallen you. Allah the Exalted says, “No calamity strikes on the earth or in yourselves except that it is in a Book before We bring it into being; indeed, that is easy for Allah” (Qur’an 57:22). Such is belief in the Divine Decree.

Belief in the Decree comprises four levels; whoever does not affirm them all is not truly a believer in the Decree.